“Dude just told his dead dad to suck it.”
After zipping back and forth across the multiverse for the last few episodes, Community finally came back down to earth this week. Or as close to our reality as this show ever gets.
Jeff and Pierce vs. The Edible Complex
She might pronounce Oedipal with the same success with which she pronounces Bagel, but Britta was right on the money when it came to Jeff and Pierce's respective daddy issues. Jeff was abandoned by his father at a young age. He has never dealt with it and refuses to even acknowledge that it has had any lasting affect on him. Piercinald Anesthesia Hawthorne, however, might've been better off if he had been abandoned by his father, the ridiculously racist Cornelius Hawthorne. You know, I'm starting to think that Pierce might not actually be the crazy old bigot we've always believed him to be. He's just been indoctrinated by his father to hate, well, just about everyone (himself included).
But Pierce is finally starting to step out of that closet of ignorant prejudice his father pushed him into. Once he starts hanging out with gay people he realises that they aren't as bad as he was raised to believe. After all, they hate lesbians as much as he does. Better still, they give Pierce the one thing he's craved the most since enrolling at Greendale; popularity. But even having people ask him for his autograph isn't enough to get Pierce to stand up to his father. So he does what all Hawthornes do, he fakes a heart attack and retreats back to the closet.
Enter Jeff. He might be unwilling to admit his own daddy issues but he is damn well going to stand up for other peoples', especially if it gives him the chance to subconsciously work through his own that he doesn't have to stop going on about it, Britta. His entire father-killing speech to Hawthorne Snr. was clearly more about him than it ever was about Pierce. Luckily for this insolent Welshman, Pierce's mother is already dead so there will be no reason to take this Edible Complex by proxy to its Freudian conclusion.
Troy the Plumber
The B-plot this week was a classic piece of Community surrealist absurdism, one of the things I love so much about this show. Can anyone think of another sitcom where would you find a Panini-making astronaut and black Hitler? Well, maybe 30 Rock. Where are you, Liz Lemon? We're missing you.
It was great to see evil Vice Dean John Goodman again. I was starting to worry that they'd forgot all about that plotline. Turns out the Greendale's Air Conditioning Repair School isn't just a money making machine but also an elite Illuminati-style secret society dating back to the time of the Pharaohs. Vice Dean John Goodman wanted Troy, the Good Will Hunting of plumbing, to join them. But Troy refused because all he wants to do is hang out with Abed and watch Inspector Spacetime all day and play dress up afterwards (their love is so pure). This did not please Vice Dean John Goodman, who seems like the kind of man you don't say no to. I seriously hope he isn't thinking about messing with Trobed. They're like the Xena and Gabrielle of Community. You just don't fuck with them. Ever!
Notes and Quotes
-- We finally learned that Inspector Spacetime's sidekick is called Constable Reggie.
-- It isn't Tron, so just what is the Dean's latest costume meant to be?
-- Troy and Abed impersonating each other.
-- I would really like to know why we didn't get to see Annie in her cone bra? Come on, ratings are dire, now is the perfect time for such desperate stunts.
-- Abed was wearing a bow-tie. Cool.
Shirley: “Yes, I’m always nice to the gays. They may live in defiance of God, but I’ll die before I let a woman touch my hair.”
Daddy Hawthorne: “These are your friends, Pierce? Minorities? Jewesses? The unseasonably tanned?"
Jeff: “What brings you here? I assume it’s not for your son’s party, unless segregationist mummy is a gay fetish I was unaware of.”
Pierce: “Hawthorne Pride Wipes. They may cost more but they're gayer.”
Britta: “I can excuse racism but I draw the line at animal cruelty.”
Shirley: “You can excuse racism?”
Jeff: “With all due respect sir, I have zero respect for you.”
Annie: “Aww, the party’s cancelled? I bought a cone bra.”
Three out of four pockets full of Hawthornes.
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Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011. More Mark Greig.
The ratings are still bad, huh? Bother. I'm just gonna assume this is the last season and not get my hopes up for more then... Hope they go out on a high note.
ReplyDeleteThat sculpted ivory wig was just about the weirdest prop I've seen in a television show for a long time.
ReplyDeleteBad ratings? Damn, I'll be sad to see it go.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe we didn't get Allison Brie in a cone bra. Damn you Harmon.
ReplyDeleteThe ratings aren't good, but TV by the Numbers is considering it a toss-up for renewal. Apparently the show is only one season away from having the "desirable" number of episodes for syndication, and it is co-produced by Sony, which has a habit of cutting strange deals to get low-rated shows enough episodes for syndication. So maybe you could hope for the best, but prepare for the worst?
ReplyDeleteGood point, Jess. Since syndication is where the real money is in television, it is possibly that Community may just survive for another season. The usual minimum for syndication is four seasons, totalling 88 episodes, although many syndicators prefer 100 episodes. This explains why shows like Chuck and Fringe were both renewed, despite low ratings, because they will now have enough episodes to sell them into syndication. Also in Community's favour is the fact that sitcoms tend to sell better in syndication than dramas.
ReplyDeleteThat said, none of this is any guarantee that Community will be renewed for another season. But since NBC is still struggling in the ratings, another season is not out of the question. If none of their new sitcoms become successful (which is looking likely) then it makes more sense for the network to hold on to the ones it already has. Community and Parks and Recreation are both struggling but unlike a show like Whitney, they have critical acclaim, strong fanbases (who are more likely to buy the dvds) and are close to having the minimum number of episodes for syndication.
At the moment, I'd say Community's chances of survival are roughly 50/50.
Community's first season was 25 shows, and its second was 24. If they do as many this season, a fourth would bring them very close to 100. If syndication money gives us a fourth season, I'll be thrilled. And there's something to say for a show going out when it's at its best, too.
ReplyDeleteIt would be ideal, after all college is only 4 years long.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed! I should stop being so tight and buy the DVD...
ReplyDeleteDan Harmon pays for a lot of things out of the budget for Community from his own pocket. I think the network likes that.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I would love this show to be renewed. I just found it recently and I am really enjoying it. It has just the right kind of twisted humour :). I agree that it is not wise to mess with the Trobed.
ReplyDeleteCommunity is missing from NBC's midseason schedule...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tv.com/news/nbc-announces-its-midseason-schedule-pulls-community-for-a-short-time-27163/?tag=hotspot;gumball;1
Piercinald Anesthesia must be one of the great names of all time.
ReplyDeletePlus, it reminded me of something I heard the other day. We all have middle names so that, when our parents use them, we know how much trouble we are really in.
Being a French Canadian, I do NOT have a middle name. But I have 2 names defore my own on my baptism certificate. Being Catholic, of course it starts with Joseph !
ReplyDelete